Johnson roars back to brink of a hat-trick

THE brave new world of rotations has introduced fresh hurdles for fast bowlers and clearing those rather than grasping a long-awaited 200th Test wicket gave Mitchell Johnson much satisfaction as his rejuvenation continued against Sri Lanka on Boxing Day.

Johnson has been both a beneficiary and a casualty of the contentious rest and rotation policy in recent weeks – recalled when Peter Siddle and Ben Hilfenhaus were rested against South Africa in Perth, and dropped for the Hobart Test against Sri Lanka despite making a successful comeback at the WACA Ground.

Back again for Boxing Day, the reborn 31-year-old reminded the cricket world of his capacity to take wickets, leak runs and break bones all at the same time, while his namesake Mitchell Starc sat on the bench at the MCG.

He also made it difficult for the selectors to leave him out again with an aggressive performance that produced 4-63, including a couple of brutish bouncers that took him to the brink of a hat trick, and his 200th Test scalp.

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"It's great having personal milestones. To be in the 200 club, I'm very happy about that," Johnson said after Australia dismissed Sri Lanka for 156. The home side had almost drawn level at stumps, but 3-150 wasn't a bad result for Sri Lanka given the carnage David Warner, with 62 from 46 balls, had threatened to unleash.

"In the end," Johnson added, "it's the way we performed today as a group. There's been talk with rotation systems and all that, so to bowl as a group – obviously Peter Siddle has been around the Test series and it was Jackson Bird's first game and I have been in and out. It's good to perform as a unit because it can be tough at times when you're chopping and changing, but I think we have become a better side at the moment. We're used to doing that, and we've got those options there."

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The Mitch switch did not hurt Australia on the opening day at the MCG, as much as it might have hurt Starc, whose enforced rest relegated him to spectator as Johnson and Bird removed both openers with the new ball.

Bird performed a vital containment role while Johnson attacked, claiming his first wicket by bowling the dangerous Tillakaratne Dilshan with an inswinger.

Later, Johnson's vicious short deliveries to dismiss Prasanna Jayawardene and Dhammika Prasad in consecutive balls proved the turning point at the MCG, where Sri Lanka was toppled for its second-lowest first innings total in Australia.

Jayawardene gloved a catch to third slip and went straight to hospital, where the Sri Lankan wicketkeeper was diagnosed with a hairline fracture of the thumb. The hat trick ball was a no-ball, but still a significant moment for Johnson as it's a while since he has felt the love of a big crowd. "The crowd was unbelievable. I actually almost pulled up during my run up because I was about to smile. I couldn't concentrate so I was just thinking to myself, stay smooth and relaxed," he said.

"I ended up bowling a no-ball but it didn't matter in the end, I didn't get him out anyway . . . Peter Siddle said to me that when he was on his hat trick in Brisbane, the crowd wasn't anywhere near as loud as it was today, and we both had goosebumps on our arms. It was a pretty special moment . . ."

Johnson has rarely been entrusted with the new ball at Test level since loosing his radar and his confidence during the 2009 Ashes, and it's a measure of his progress that he felt comfortable with it on Wednesday. "I knew maybe two days out so I had a lot of time to prepare for it. I've been bowling with the new ball in state cricket and really enjoying it," he said.

"I was nervous the first over today just because I'd never bowled first in a Boxing Day Test. Once I got past that first over, I was fine."